tire age, recaps

superdave · 04-07-2015, 07:13 PM

whats the oldest tire you should drive on,even if they look new,10 years? what about recaps, are they worth it? thanks

dond · 04-07-2015, 08:34 PM

FWIW. My old motorhome had 7 y/o tires on the front and 10 y/o on the rear. I was planning to replace the rears so off to the tire store I went.
On the way I lost tread on one of the 7 y/o fronts so I had all replaced.

Take from this what you will but I will be goosey when my bus tires get to the 7 year mark.
The bus has 14/16 ply tires, the MH had LT tires, 6 ply..

No caps for me.

Hvbuzz · 04-07-2015, 09:13 PM

A friend of mine owns the tire shop in our town. When I was ready to hit the road I asked for his opinion. Take it for what its worth. I have never been a fan of Chinese tires or recaps. But he convinced me that for the purpose of my bus, I would be wasting my money on new Goodyears all around that I was thinking of getting. So after the sticker shock, my bus got Samson steers, and Bandag retreads on the rear. He told me to run them 7 years and do it again. At that time he said he would even give me some trade in then too. He said he sells them at that age to farmers for their hay wagons. The verdict, I'm actually really happy with the steers, I won't admit it though to anyone that knows me well

The recaps I'm on the fence. One came apart last summer at two years old and 6500mi. My friend made it right. Replaced it for free, and felt real bad about it. Then he told me he sells about 200 retreads a year, and usually 1-2 will come back apart. He didn't tell me that before hand. If these make another 5 years without trouble I will probably do it again.

superdave · 04-08-2015, 06:28 AM

thanks, i had a 6 year old spare that had never been on the road fail after a few miles , caved the rear panel in on my f150. every bus for sale has "like new tires" when you ask about the age/ date code they can never find it, hmmmm.

dond · 04-08-2015, 09:08 AM

My rears are 2010, fronts 2014.

Tick-tick-tick......

cowlitzcoach · 04-08-2015, 09:14 AM

I would never run a recap on a bus. The difference in cost isn't enough to risk one letting go.

I have seen some pretty impressive damage done to buses due to recaps coming apart. On one Setra motorcoach it cost $14,000.00 to repair the body work, air suspension, and brake lines that were ruined or damaged.

As far as age is concerned, your location will make a big difference on how long a tire will last.

In the desert SW the sun and heat will kill a tire long before the damp and humidity in the wet NW will kill a tire.

But 7-10 years is a pretty good yardstick to use to replace tires--seven years if there is any cracking or weather checking and ten years if there isn't any.

Kubla · 04-08-2015, 06:37 PM

Having 13 years of truck driving experience, brand new tires will come apart like retreads if run under inflated, my blue bird wanderlodge has 10 year old tires on back and I am looking for replacements

superdave · 04-08-2015, 09:00 PM

when they recap the tire do they put a new date code on it?

Kubla · 04-08-2015, 09:14 PM

they put marks on them but new laws say they can no longer recap a casing over 5 years old

superdave · 04-09-2015, 05:36 AM

thanks kubla, what about tire inflation, my truck tires max at 44 but the dealer airs them up to 36-38 for a softer ride. do you max out bus tires?

HolyBus · 04-09-2015, 06:03 AM

My tires are currently low at 72 psi. Too much tread on the ground. I am looking for a truck stop or other that has high enough pressure. I think places keep them set low for cars so they don't have liability if a car overinflates and blows a tire.

family wagon · 04-09-2015, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HolyBus

My tires are currently low at 72 psi. Too much tread on the ground. I am looking for a truck stop or other that has high enough pressure. I think places keep them set low for cars so they don't have liability if a car overinflates and blows a tire.

How about a Discount/America's Tire, or other tire shop, where they offer free air checks? Those places frequently work on pickup trucks and utility trailers that need 80+ PSI, so they should be able to help you out.

Kubla · 04-09-2015, 07:00 PM

depending on weight, between 80 and 100 psi, there should be a tag somewhere on the bus that shows recommended tire pressures

superdave · 04-10-2015, 05:09 AM

ok one more, how much does a tire change cost on the side of the road? does anyone bring along a spare tire?

taskswap · 04-10-2015, 08:34 AM

Also interested in this - I don't see a lot of spares in photos.

Also, stupid newbie question: are the fronts the same as the rears? Do you need more than one spare?

cowlitzcoach · 04-10-2015, 10:25 AM

I have driven hundreds of thousands of miles over the years in buses.

I can count on one hand how many flats I have gotten in all of those years.

Roadside flat repair can be a bit pricey depending upon how far from town you are located when you got the flat and what they have to do once they get there.

You can reduce your costs by running a common size of tire. 11R22.5 is about as common as you can get. 10R22.5 is less common but still not unusual. Any tube type tire is becoming very uncommon. The metric sized tires can be hard to find as well. The more uncommon the tire size is the less likely the tire shop will have a tire that will fit if you should need a replacement tire (if you drive any distance on a radial tire that is flat it will be toasted). Uncommon=$$$$

You have to ask yourself how much is it going to cost to maintain a good spare, how much space is that spare going to take up, and how much weight are you going to be hauling around all the time.

For myself, I would not bother with a spare unless I was going to an area where roadside service would be next to impossible to find (translated very expensive) or if I was going to be going off the beaten track and onto roads where road damage might be expected to occur.

family wagon · 04-10-2015, 01:45 PM

I remember a thread here in which a member described having the outer dual replaced on the side of the road. The tire guy didn't even jack it up or remove the wheel from the axle. He just got to work with a bar, pried the beads over, and reversed the process to get the new tire on. Sounded like it was pretty quick and easy. I have no idea what he did to manipulate that thing enough to seat the bead. Naturally I can't find that thread now, however!

Quote:

Originally Posted by taskswap

Also, stupid newbie question: are the fronts the same as the rears? Do you need more than one spare?

Steer and drive tires are usually different, but I'm definitely not the person to be able to explain why or what would happen if the wrong kind were used.

taskswap · 04-10-2015, 01:48 PM

What about (dare I say it) Slime? I've had really good luck with this in cars and trailers. I wouldn't suggest it as a permanent repair but is it even usable in a bus-type situation?

cowlitzcoach · 04-10-2015, 02:18 PM

In most cases the same size tire is used on the drive and tag axles as used on the steer axle.

The only real difference is you are allowed to use re-caps on the steer and tag axles and not allowed on steer axles.

Any longer I use the same tire on all positions. It reduces the inventory of tires I need. I have also found that when the roads get so slick that I really "need" traction tires the "chains required" sign goes up so I can't really use the added traction the traction tires provide.

If I were running a semi I would use position specific tires. But for most practical purposes an all position tire works best on most RV's and buses.

Using a closed shoulder design also reduces road noise significantly.

Hvbuzz · 04-11-2015, 04:54 AM

Here is my retread that came apart last summer.

20140705_173330 by Hvbuzz, on Flickr

I was about 40 miles north of Mitchell SD, when it came apart. I just drove about 30 mph on it, to get me into town. I knew the tire was no good anyway, just didn't want to to come apart more and tear the bus up. I carry just a spare tire no rim. I probably wouldn't even do that, but the spare didn't cost me anything.

Here is my spare. It's a drive position tire and not a retread.

20141109_091722 by Hvbuzz, on Flickr

Since I was able to drive to the tire shop and having the spare, it cost me $42 to have them swap tires out for me. I did get lucky being the outside dual, saving time.

My opinion on the spare is... If you can get a cheap good spare, and have room to carry one, why not. I would prefer a steer, or all position though. I wouldn't pay good money though to have one with me, and just have it aging without being used. Besides, If I didn't have a spare I would probably just have a tire shop single out a rear long enough to get home or find another tire. Of course you would have to drive accordingly. I plan on getting some weights of the bus this year. I think, even running single rear tire , I would still be within the tires weight rating.

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